Board Members

Shannen O’Brian

Founder/President

Since Shannen can remember, she has always been dedicated to social causes. During her BA at McGill & exchange at the University of Edinburgh, she studied International Development, with the dream of making a difference for those living in poverty. During her undergraduate degree she managed to spend time volunteering in an orphanage in Mongolia, and assist disadvantaged people living in Cuba. Since graduation, Shannen has spent four years volunteering and working in Northern Ghana as a Primary school teacher and Water & Sanitation officer, and then went on to found Create Change. Shannen also has a Master’s degree in Human Rights from the University College Dublin, Ireland.

 

Sandra O’Brian

Director/Treasurer

With 35 years of business experience, Sandra has a background in fundraising, business start up, finance and promotion. She has always been involved in social and environmental causes, and is committed to supporting the much needed changes she has seen during her several trips to Ghana. She has been on the board of several companies, and has an active background in fundraising, program administration, finance, and advertising. She is currently the president of her own company. Sandra is a strong supporter of the healing and visual arts and has spent many years serving on several boards both in a business context and within her community.

 

Janet Kolanko

Director/Secretary

Janet Kolanko, originally from Montreal, Quebec, graduated from the University of New Brunswick in 1981 with a Bachelor of Education degree. She is a self-employed businesswoman with over 25 years of executive and administrative office management experience. Janet brings the highest level of excellence to all of her projects with integrity and tireless energy. Throughout her career, Janet has accumulated extensive experience in accounting, finance, organizing events, and the start-up of non-profit foundations.

 

Helena Cynamon

Director

For over twenty-five years Helena Cynamon has been securing creative and entrepreneurial partnerships in the Film and TV industry. Presently, under her new production company, she is creatively producing documentaries and music projects. Prior to her current ventures, Helena was the Chair and a founding partner of Forefront Entertainment International, which created, produced and distributed 115 hours of TV programming and received more than 30 international industry awards. In particular, as the Producer of Magician’s House she won an International EMMY. Prior to Forefront, Helena also wrote and directed social political award-winning documentaries for the NFB and community organizations. In related activities, she has been a speaker on national media industry panels, adjudicated film script competitions and has served on several film industry boards.

 

Tasha Nijaar

Director

Tasha has always had an interest in social justice and global issues, and has been involved in international and community development for over 7 years. Her work has primarily focused on engaging youth in global issues, organizing community dialogues on food security and climate change, and working with refugees in Canada. Having worked with major development institutions including the Canadian Red Cross, SFU Centre fo Dialogu, VictimLINK and Society for Children and Youth of BC, Tasha brings skills in project management and facilitation to the Create Change team. Tasha believes that our local action has a powerful impact on global challenges. She is a McGill graduate with a double major in Economics and International Development.